First test dive with the Trident

​This week I received the Trident from OpenROV. I was not expecting it before January, so it was a nice surprise. After getting familiar with the hardware and making all the necessary software updates, I took it on a test dive. I initially wanted to test it in the ocean right by my house but seeing all the kelp floating around made me a little bit anxious. All I wanted to know for this first dive was how hard/easy it was to control the Trident. Until I knew this, getting tangled in kelp didn’t seem like a good idea. So, I went to Thetis Lake instead, a lake few kilometers away from where I leave. There is nothing too exciting in this lake, but at least there were no big waves or kelp. Good conditions to get started.

After about 15 minutes, I was getting used to the controls and was able to go where I wanted in a relatively smooth fashion. The compass, tilt and depth meters on the cockpit display appeared to be essential for navigation. Without these, it would be very easy to get disoriented. The lights are surprisingly powerful and allow to have a good image even at depth where it is very dark. As I expected, there was nothing too crazy to see in the lake. Only a few cans of beer and branches. But at least now I am more comfortable with controlling the Trident.

Next step, the ocean!